Olive slicer having an orienting feed chute



2 Sheets-Sheet l L. H. SMITH oLIvE SLICER HAVING AN ORIENTING FEED CHUTE Feb; l, 1955 Filed Feb. 24, 1951 .Fb. l, 1955 H. SMITH 2,700,995

OLIVE SLICER HAVING AN ORIENTING FEED CHUTE Filed Feb. 24, 1951 2 She'ets-Sheeet 2 /ls ATTORNEY United States Patent O OLIVE SLICER HAVING AN ORIENTIN G FEED CHUTE Laurence H. Smith, Walnut Creek, Calif., assignor. to Pacific Olive Company, Visalia, Calif., a corporation of California Application February 24, 1951, Serial No. 212,595

3 Claims. (Cl. 146-164) My invention relates 'to slicing machines and one of the objects of the invention is the provision of a machine for slicing pitted olives. Another object is the provision of such a machine in which provision is made for passmg through without injury to the machine, the occasional olive still retaining its pit. Still another object of the invention is the provision of an olive slicing machine in which means are provided for the orderly presentation of the olives to the slicing knives so that the slices are made perpendicular to the long axis of the olive.

The invention possesses other objects, some of which with the foregoing will be brought out in the following description of the invention. I do not limit myself to the showing made by the said description and the drawings, since I may adopt variant forms of the invention within the scope of the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. l is a side elevation and Fig. 2 is a plan of my olive slicer. ln both views parts are broken away to disclose underlying structure. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on a larger scale of a part of the machine, the plane of section being indicated by the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 is a vertical section also on a larger scale of the upper part of the machine, taken in the plane indicated by the line 4 4 of Fig. 2.

One of the better ways in which processed ripe or green olives are prepared for the market is to slice the pitted olive transversely of its long axis. This produces small rings, attractive in shape and therefore having a high degree of customer appeal. I have devised a machine for doing this, which in broad outline includes a hopper into which the pitted olives are dumped. Conveyor means in the hopper pick up the olives and drop them in inclined chutes in which they roll down to the rotary carrier which conveys them past the cutting blades of which there are several opposite each chute, depending on the desired thickness of the slice. Since an occasional olive with a pit may get into the carrier, means are provided for passing such an olive past the cutting blades and out of the carriage without injury to the mechanism. Means are also provided for stripping the olive rings from the carrier.

In detail and with specific reference to the drawings, my olive slicer comprises a supporting frame 2 on which the mechanism is orderly disposed. A shaft 3, journaled in the bearing 4 on one side member of the frame, has splined thereon between tight collars 6, a plurality of generally round plates or disks 7, each formed with two diametrically opposite peripheral recesses 8. The disks are relatively quite thin, conveniently about .030 thick which is much thinner than it is possible to show them in true scale in Fig. 3; and are spaced along the shaft by spacing disks 9, assembled between them. The thickness of the spacing disks determines the thickness of the olive rings and conveniently may be about .125. For convenience in assembly and disassembly, the shaft 3 is made in two parts connected by a detachable coupling 10. The main portion of the shaft on which the disks are assembled is journaled in the capped bearings 11, so that the shaft and disk structure may be disconnected and removed or replaced as a unit.

In assembling the recessed disks on the shaft, the recesses are aligned, so that longitudinally extending pockets are formed on opposite sides of the cylindrical disk structure. These pockets receive the olives and carry 30 them past the cutting blades, which slice them into rings.

The assembly is conveniently referred to as a carrier structure.

Extending between each two contiguous disks and lying close to one of the disks is a curved cutting blade 12, extending integrally from a shaft portion 13, pivotally mounted on the rod 14, supported in the frame members. Preferably the free end 16 of the blade is: left unsharpened and rests on the spacer, but the inside of the curved blade is sharpened by grinding on the outer face only, the inner face lying against the face of the adjacent disk. A spring 17 interposed between a fixed bar 18 and the top of the blade tends to hold the blade down in cutting position but permits it to rise if an unpitted olive reaches the carrier structure.

Means are provided for rotating the carrier structure and for feeding a succession of olives tov the pockets. Arranged at one side of the frame is a hopper 19, the bottom of which is formed by the upper reach of a sharply sloping conveyor comprising fiat flights 21 arranged on chains 22 running over sprockets fixed on shafts 23 and 24 journaled on the frame. Each Hight is formed with a number of pockets 26; and the upward slope of the reach is such that as the flights move toward the top, the olives in the hopper tend to` roll back unless caught in the pockets of the flights. This results in a succession of rows of olives passing under the curved retaining plate 27 and dropping on to the feed plate 2S between the guide partitions 29. The plate and partition structure form a plurality of inclined chutes in line with the pockets across the iiights, and are so placed as to guide the olives rolling down the chutes to the pockets.

As the olives roll down the chutes they assume a position in which thelong axis is parallel to the shaft of the carrier structure. This position is insured by the rotating shaft 31 over which the olives roll before entering the pocket of the carrier so that the olive is sliced in planes perpendicular to its long axis.

The partition plates rest on the shaft 31 at the lower end, and on the long rod 32, but the feed plate is welded to the shaft 33 and terminates short of the shaft 31 so that by appropriate means it may be dropped at timed intervals to clear the chutes of any mashed olives or other material clinging thereto.

The shaft 33 is journaled in bearings 34, in the side members of the frame, and carries a fixed arm 36, connected by link 37 with an arm 33, forming part of the rocker 39, journaled on the stud shaft 41, fixed in the frame. The rocker is actuated by an arm 42, wiped by the cam 43 fixed on the shaft 3, once during each revolution. Timing is such that dropping of the feed plate occurs after one row of olives has fallen and run down to the carrier and before the next row of falling olives has hit the plate. Recovery movement of the plate is effected by a tension spring 44 interposed between the link 37 and the rod 14.

Means are provided for driving the moving parts of the olive slicer in a timed relation. Mounted on the bed plate 45, fixed on the top portion of the machine is a motor 46 with reduction gearing in box 47 having a slow take-off sprocket 48, connected by chain 49 with sprocket 51, fixed on the shaft 3. A chain 52 running over suitable sprockets 53 and 54, fixed respectively on shafts 3 and 23, drives the feed conveyor in the hopper 19. The shaft 31 is revolved by the chain 56 running over a sprocket 57 on the shaft and driven by the larger sprocket 58, journaled, along with the small sprocket 59 to which it is fixed, on the stud shaft 61, fixed on the frame. The positions of the parts are such that the main driving chain 49 runs over the small sprocket 59 as shown; and the proportions of the sprockets are such as to move all the parts in the desired or necessary relationship as to time and duration of operation.

After the olives have been carried across the cutting blades, the slices tend to stick between the carrier disks at varying distances from the spacer disks. In order to remove the slices from the carrier structure, a stripper 62 is arranged in each space between the disks, extending upwardly to the spacer disk from the mounting rod 63, held in the frame, and to which all of the strippers are fixed. A chute 64 receives the falling slices as Well as the occasional unpitted olive; and permits them to slide or roll into a receptacle conveniently iilled with a salt solution, which allows the pitted olives to sink, while the slices oat in a preservative medium until they are removed for packing.

I claim:

1. In combination with a plurality of coaxial discs secured to a first rotary shaft and having aligned peripheral pockets and interdigitated cutting means extending therebetween, of means for feeding olives or the like thereto comprising an inclined chute having a lower terminal portion spaced from the periphery of said discs, a second rotary shaft between and adjacent said chute terminal portion and said discs for orienting said olives to present the same to said discs with their longitudinal axes parallel to the axis of rotation of said discs.

2. A device as set forth in claim 1 having said inclined chute secured to a third rotary shaft and means interconnecting said lastnarned shaft and said rst rotary shaft for intermittently moving said chute from the feed position to a substantially vertical position to permit the removal of accumulated waste material in said chute.

3. A device as set forth in claim 2 wherein said means for intermittently moving said inclined chute comprises a earn secured to said first rotary shaft, a lever positioned adjacent said cam and adapted for intermittent engagement therewith, a lever secured to said third rotary shaft and a link member interconnecting said levers.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 919,499 Ulery Apr. 27, 1909 1,513,389 Gunther et al. Oct. 28, 1924 2,159,851 Hicks May 23, 1939 2,168,500 Steinhauer Aug. 8, 1939 2,284,975 Horner June 2, 1942 2,503,976 Troyer Apr. 11, 1950 2,506,985 Arnt May 9, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 5,846 Great Britain Dec. 10, 1902 

